Battle of Shanghai - Shanghai

March 8, 2014


		1 Introduction 2 Background 3 The Battle 4 Aftermath and Appraisal 5 See also

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Battle of Shanghai

Wikipedia

The Battle of Shanghai (Chinese_language|Chinese: 淞滬會戰, lit. Battle at the ports of Shanghai) (August 13, 1937 - November 9, 1937) was a major engagement during the Sino-Japanese_War_(1937-1945)|Sino-Japanese War.

The battle was significant in that it effectively destroyed Japan's goal of conquering China in three months (三月亡華), and signified the beginning of an all-out war, not just some "incidents," between the two countries.
The battle lasted three months and involved nearly one million troops, and is divided into three stages. The first stage lasted from August 13 to September 11, during which the Kuomintang army defended the city against the Japanese who were landing at the shores of Shanghai; The second stage lasted from September 12 to November 4, during which the two armies involved in a bloody house-to-house battle in an attempt to gain control of the city; and the last stage, lasting from November 5 to end of the month, involved the retreat of the Chinese army by flanking Japanese. In the battle, approximately 200,000 died on both sides.

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Background

The Battle of Shanghai was the first major battle after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the course and decision for total war involved skillful diplomatic maneuverings on Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek's part. Shanghai was a cosmoplitan city at the time and had many foreign investments and assets, including American, British and Japanese. To Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese attack on the city would provide an impetus for the United States and the United Kingdom to enter the war on the side of China. Before the attacks, the U.S. and Great Britain have been unwilling to condemn Japan for its encroachments upon China because of their similar anti-Soviet Union political agenda. In addition, Chiang understood that the war would affect their investments and would force them to propose a settlement on terms acceptable to China and that Japan could not sustain herself against America, the greatest economic power, and Great Britain, the greatest colonial power.
To prove that an independent China was inseparable from the continuation of American and British interests, Chiang understood that he needed to make the Battle of Shanghai a grand battle to raise the stakes higher. While a Chinese victory would be desirable, defeat would not be so bad either because it might force the British and the Americans to intervene to prevent China from aligning with the Soviet Union. However, if the British and the Americans did not intervene, then Chiang would have to fight a war of attrition with its home front moved into the interior. In addition, the national sentiment geared heavily towards Chinese patriotism and that further retreat was simply counter-productive to the troops' morale. These formulations were the basis of Chiang's decision to place his most capable, German-equipped troops to fight in the battle to draw international attention to China's side.

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The Battle

On August 13, more than 10,000 Japanese troops pressed towards the Kongkew district of Shanghai and encountered the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps. The Japanese expected a swift victory to conquer Shanghai in three days and China in three months. However, they faced strong resistance.
On August 22, the Japanese 3rd, 8th, and 11th Divisions made an amphibious assault under naval bombardment and proceeded to land in at Chwansa, Shihtzelin, and Paoshan districts of Shanghai. The Chinese were unable to counterattack because of heavy enemy naval firepower.
By September 17, the Chinese retreated to the North Railway Station further inland to set up a defensive line at Lotien-Shuangtsaoten section of the railway. During mid-September vicious house-to-house fighting erupted with 100,000 Japanese troops and the Japanese broke the Lotien line. The Chinese retreated further to the southern bank of Wentsaopang creek and took up defensive positions along the Kwangfu-Szesiangkungmiao-Liuho line.
The Japanese further increased their men to 200,000 during October and launched an offensive on the Wentsaopang creek region. The Chinese also started their counter-offensive. This caused tremendous casualties on both sides. On October 23, the Japanese broke through Chinese lines, forcing them to make an orderly retrograde operation further south in the hilltops of the Blue Dragon Ridge. The Chinese fought relentlessly to hold their higher ground. But with casualties of some thirty thousand, the Chinese retreated. With Chinese lines faltering throughout the city, the Japanese demanded a surrender on November 7th. However, the Chinese refused to surrender and bitter close-quarters battle continued, with Japanese planes straffing and bombing the city. The last Chinese troops evacuated from the city and retreated further south on November 12.

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Aftermath and Appraisal

The Battle of Shanghai was a military defeat but a morale-boosting victory for the Chinese. It made clear to the world that the Chinese would no longer stand by and watch as Japanese forces "peacefully" conquered its territory piece by piece. It also demonstrated that the Chinese would not surrender under intense Japanese fire, something that Chiang wanted the Americans and the British to know for a long time. However, to prove his point, Chiang also had to send his German-trained Central Army into savage battles with the better-equipped and navally-supported Japanese army. The Central Army lost one-third of its men in the battle and it greatly reduced the Kuomintang's army manpower. In addition, as General Li Tsung-jen pointed out in his memoir, Chiang knew the Chinese army had a slim chance of winning and Shanghai was likely to be lost. Li Tsung-jen proposed that the Central Army should preserve its strength and move further inland to capital Nanking to prepare for a more robust defense there. Strategically speaking, Li believed that China was a vast country and it made no difference if a city could be held for a few months longer at the expense of huge casualties. However, Chiang believed that it was nessicary to prove Chinese valor to the foreign powers in the city to bring them to China's side. In addition, the Chinese fought tenaciously so that the city would not fall in three days, and that China would not fall in three months as the Japanese had proclaimed. This proved to be extremely morale-boosting to the Chinese troops. However, the heavy casualties incurred by the Chinese and difficulties in conquering the city caused Japanese troops to carry out the Nanjing Massacre as a retributive action against Chinese resistance. All in all, although the price paid was astronomical, the battle was a proving ground for China's unwillingness to surrender and make any concessions to Japan and its determination to resist Japanese aggression.

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